Azernews.Az

General Department of Civil Aviation of Armenia (GDCA) will allow civil aircrafts to fly to the occupied territory of Azerbaijan, GDCA's chief Artyom Movsisyan told journalists, Novosti-Armenia reported.

He refused to disclose concrete dates.

According to Movsisyan, flights will be served by 19-seat Armenian planes. The flight duration will be 45 - 50 minutes.

The commissioning of the airport in Khojaly is an open violation of the Convention on International Civil Aviation.

Azerbaijan banned the use of airspace over Armenia occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, as no one can guarantee a safe air corridor in the area, the head of the Azerbaijani Civil Aviation Administration, Arif Mammadov said earlier.

The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and the European Civil Aviation Conference (ICAC) also supported the position of Azerbaijan on this issue.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 per cent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France and the U.S. are currently holding peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.